Round 2 / Pick 61Peter Delmas6-2, 169, Goalie34 GP - 2.84 GAA - .903 SV% (Lewiston)Backtracking to yesterday, you'll see that Delmas is one of the guys I thought the Avs might take and probably should take. Delmas was compared to Roberto Luongo on TSN's coverage of the draft this morning and from his interview, seems happy to be in Colorado. This is a guy who is potentially a franchise goalie. He we was ranked as the third North American goalie by the Central Scouting Service.

What does this mean? I'd be shocked if Peter Budaj isn't being shopped during the rest of this draft. I think we'll be seeing a Theodore-Weinman goaltending pair next sesaon.

Note: The Avalanche made a trade with the Los Angeles Kings to acquire the 61st overall pick. It appears as though the terms to that deal are still unknown. I'll post them as soon as I know.

The Kings traded their 61st overall pick to Colorado for center Brad Richardson. Richardson, 23, has spent parts of the past three seasons with the Avalanche. He had two goals and three assists in 22 games last season.Source: http://www.insidesocal.com/kings

Upcoming Picks

Round 4 - 110Round 5 - 140Round 6 - 167Roudn 6 - 170Round 7 - 200

NHL NotesA few big names have moved around already this weekend. Here's a quick glance:

Columbus Receives: R.J. Umberger, Fourth Round PickPhiladelphia Receives: 19th Pick, Third Round PickPhiladelphia Receives: Steve Eminger, Second Round PickWashington Receives: 27th PickLook for a quick update post after the Fourth Round.________________Round 4 / Pick 110Kelsey Tessier5-9, 168, Center68 GP - 36 G, 45 A (Quebec)Playing for Patrick Roy in the QMJHL, Tessier was on a line with top prospect Angelo Esposito (and outscored him too!) I'm not exactly Mel Kiper here, but at first glance, he seems like another small center (remember, the Avs just got rid of Brad Richardson). However, there are some things to like:

-The guys on TSN seem to think we got a huge steal. In the fourth round, they say, a player with Tessier's skill level will be able to succeed in the NHL and will be a good player for the team.

-His favorite team is, in fact, the Colorado Avalanche. You have to love that. His favorite player is Joe Sakic, so maybe Joe will play at least one more season so this kid gets to meet his hero.

-He scored 27 points in 6 games at the Canada Cup in 2007.

-According to his interview, he learned the fundamentals of the game before he actually started playing the game. Good skaters are needed in this game and that will help when it comes time to trying to crack the team.

A small center from the CCHA, Avalanche fans are probably getting tired of all the centers in the system. Think about Hensick, Stoa, Burki, Galiardi, and Mercier and you get the feeling that the Avs are trying to find a Joe Sakic replacement already. (But seriously, I'm sick of drafting centers). Ranked 207th by the CSS, I have to put my faith in Colorado's scouts on this one.

Fact: Every Avalanche draft pick in 2008 has been Canadian.

By the way, why are we not drafting any wingers? Parshin, Jones, Stewart, Carey, and McLeod are the only noteworthy names in our system and those are by no means top flight guys. While Jones looks to be ready to stay up next season and McLeod may have found a niche on the fourth line, the Avs could certainly could have benefited by taking a guy like Matt Martin (6-2, 192 - drafted by Islanders with pick #158)

Avs pick twice in Round 6. I'll be back with an update on both of them.___________Round 6 / Pick 167Joel Chouinard6-1, 186, Defenseman69 GP - 7 G, 28 A, 95 PIM (Victoriaville)Ranked 99th by the CSS among North American skaters, the Avs have certainly gone away from their strategy of drafting players primarily from American leagues, and have instead focused on the Canadian leagues. He's somewhat of a big guy and seems to have an offensive touch, so this may be a decent late round pick up for Avalanche scouts.

The first non-Canadian the Avs decided to take this year, Holos doesn't have the most impressive stats, does he? There isn't much about this kid. CSS doesn't have him ranked among the Top 60 European skaters and apparently, he'll be playing in Sweden next season.

I'm not so sure about this pick. Forget about those stats (we have no idea what his team was like), but it's going to be a long-term project for sure.

That is not a typo, folks. It is, indeed, another small center entering the organization. Either the scouts think that they can turn these kids into wingers or they have no clue what they're doing and are praying that one of these guys develops well. He'll be attending the Universtiy of Minnesota next fall, so the experience will certainly be there when he's ready to enter the Avalanche system.

That about does it for this year's draft. I'll be making at least one more post today to recap every Avalanche pick and I also want to talk a little bit about our free agents. Who's staying? Who's going? What players might the Avs consider signing?

As for you - please let me know that you're out there. Any comments on the Avs draft are welcome.